Related Content

Now 92, Spencer was the first black woman elected to Cincinnati City Council, and she later served as the city's vice mayor. She also was the first woman to serve as president of the local NAACP chapter, and she fought for civil rights and social change throughout her life.

"I remember when I was elected to City Council, there were several committees that had no women on them, so I joined all those committees, (and) I joined because I thought they needed a female voice," she said.

Marian Spencer won the lawsuit that desegregated Coney Island in the 1950s, and she has always pushed for equal opportunities in education and voting rights.

"I have never missed voting," Spencer said. "I would consider it a travesty when people have died for this right for me to not get to the voting booth."

Her late husband, Donald Spencer, will also be honored at the League of Their Own gala.

"We wanted to be together all our lives, and were almost," she said.

The couple was married nearly 70 years, and they'll be honored together for their life's work.

"Because we worked together, I think the significance of our legacy is we tried to do right and with folks who are trying to do better," Spencer said.